by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

DENVER â?? The stage was set for a matchup of indisputable greats â?? Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. All each had to do was win his divisional playoff game. Manning was less than a minute from doing his part. He'd then wait for Brady to do his on Sunday.

With a shocking 70-yard touchdown pass and two gutsy overtimes, the quarterback led the Baltimore Ravens past the heavily-favored Denver Broncos, 38-35 Saturday at Mile High. And, with his contract expiring, probably made himself some money.

It was "one of the greatest football games you're ever going to see," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said, and its star was Flacco, who had been up and down all season, but on point when the spotlight shone brightest.

Flacco passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns including that 70-yard bomb to Jacoby Jones with 31 second left in the game that tied the score at 35 and sent the game to overtime. The game ended in the second overtime with Justin Tucker's game-winning 47-yard field goal, which sent the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game against the Houston Texans or New England Patriots, who play Sunday.

The fourth-longest game in NFL history wouldn't have been so without Jones streaking down the sideline, and Flacco waiting long enough for him to get open. Flacco almost aborted the most important touchdown of 2013 by throwing the ball away.

"I just ran for a couple yards and I'm thinking, 'Man I should've just thrown the ball away because at least the clock would have stopped,'" Flacco said. "We just kept going and going and all of a sudden that happened. There is no real way to explain it.

"At that point, you have to start taking shots. You have to get a little lucky."

There were plenty of questions without answers on Saturday: How on Earth did the Broncos get beat deep with a seven-point lead and less than a minute to play? Did Tucker cheat the rules with a warm-up kick on the field between overtimes?

And there was one question answered as emphatically as a frozen pigskin exploding off Justin Tucker's way-too-tight boot: Can a Joe Flacco team win the Super Bowl? Yes.

There isn't a player in the Ravens locker room who doesn't believe it after watching the fifth-year quarterback outplay a legend on the road. Flacco avoided the kind of critical mistakes that sank Manning and the Broncos: He threw the ball away when he needed to (his only near-interception was caught out of bounds), and he flashed the big arm that the 36-year-old Manning now lacks.

Flacco's 59- and 32-yard touchdown passes to Torrey Smith went miles beyond any throw Manning was willing to attempt with his gloved right hand.

"He grew up today," retiring Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said of Flacco. "I told him, 'You're the general now. Lead us to a victory. You lead us today. I'm just here to facilitate things.'

"To look in his eyes, he had something different about him today and I just wanted to encourage him. To watch what he did today is probably one of the greatest things I'll always sit back and remember."

If Flacco leads Baltimore to New Orleans and Super Bowl XLVII, the 2012 season will be remembered in part for the early criticism of Flacco's off-season assertion that he was an "elite" quarterback, a quote that became the topic during the Ravens' up-and-down, 10-6 regular season.

Flacco's fluctuating stock among reminds his coach of another quarterback â?? the former Super Bowl MVP who walked away a loser on Saturday.

"Perspectives on any player are going to evolve and that's part of the process for any young quarterback," Harbaugh said. "You look at one of the greatest to ever play the game that was on the other side today, and the perspective on him has evolved over the years. Joe's going to be like that, like any other quarterback. I'm proud of him."

Victory was especially sweet for Flacco after his struggles in a 34-17 loss to these Broncos in December. He threw an interception and completed only half of his passes as Baltimore dropped its third game in a row that day.

What a difference a month makes, and what a performance Flacco had in one of the greatest contests in modern football history. Plus, Flacco likely played himself into a significant pay raise. But you could never tell by his postgame demeanor.

"I don't know if it was a little bit of redemption," he said. "We had all the confidence in the world coming up here. It was just another win."